Phonograph Records

Jebediah Brown: The day’s the 14th of April, the year of our Lord, 1885. A day I will hold dear until my last. (Sigh) I have done and spent thirty years of my life in Purgatory Point. My Ma' brought me out here when I was but ten years young. She hoped to give us a chance at a new life. They're good folk here in Purgatory Point. And sure, sometimes they get a little rowdy and maybe we stray too far from heaven's gaze, but, eh, what do you expect from a frontier mining town? Something happened to one of the miners: Clive Farnsworth, a good man, came by the shop a few times. Anyway, he went down into that mine, stayed down there for ten days. When he came back up, he was... changed. They say he was like a feral animal, rabid and carnivorous. His mind was gone, his flesh all sallow and bloody, his eyes ablazin' a red light! First home he stumbled upon was me and Ma's. I was at the shop at the time. Ma' went out to meet him, and Clive he... Doc said it happened quick. Clive jumped on her, ripped her throat. Ol' Bill ran over, put two through Clive's skull. Shot him dead, like a dog. But Ma'... she's been laid to rest now. She'll rise up to Heaven. And bless her soul, she'll be greeted with open arms. That mine… they've been digging for that blue rock. Some folks say you stare too long, you'll find the devil in it. I need answers. I need to understand what happened. I'll head down to that mine tomorrow.

Jebediah Brown: The day’s the 19th of April, the year of our Lord, 1885. Somehow, I don't know how it's possible. Last I recall I was headed into the mine. I swear I was only down there for a few hours. When I come back up, townsfolk say I've been missing for five days. Then there was last night. When I slept, I had a vision. Two angels came down to me from Heaven. They told me I needed to be ready, to prepare for what was coming. What was coming, they would not tell me. But how to prepare, "build a machine" they said. "A machine that will grant you great power." Now, this machine was complex, requiring craftsmanship and mechanical skill I did not have. I told them such, but they said not to worry. They would guide my hands. The way they described it, it sounded like an oven or a kiln. You stick your rifle inside, and when it come back out... (Chuckles) Well, let's just say that rifle will pack a serious punch.

Jebediah Brown: The day’s the 30th of June, the year of our Lord, 1885. My invention is the talk of the town. People been coming from far and wide, eager for a chance to upgrade their firearm. Revolver, rifle, the machine don't care. It'll pack 'em all. I pray every night thanking the Heavens for sending them two angels. I couldn't have done this without their guiding hand. They returned to me last night. They told me there was another machine they wished me to build. They called it the Agarthan Device. Said it had the power to grant that which one truly desires. I told them I was their servant. Show me the path, and I will walk. They said I needed three things: The blood of an Elder God, an Elemental Shard, and a metallic vessel to harness and carry both. To find the blood, they instructed me to travel to the bottom of the ocean. I told them this I could not do, for I would perish. To craft an Elemental Shard, they instructed me to forge four souls with a blue rock from our mine. I told them this I could not do, for I do not have the means to siphon a human soul to an element. But a metal vessel, well, (scoffs) I am a blacksmith. That? That I think I could manage.

Jebediah Brown: The day’s the 21st of July, the year of our Lord, 1885. I have, uh, a confession. I am burdened with sin. I fear I am the architect of my own damnation. This town... this town is cursed. The Devil himself has possessed our people. Folk have been acting all kinds of crazy. Paranoia, visions, seeing things that ain't there. And the violence. Seven dead in the last five days. Sheriff don't know what's gotten into these people, but I know. It's that damned mine! Them blue rocks! Doc believes them to be meteors from the sky, from up in the stars. Maybe from Heaven. But whatever the cause, I fear the disease that consumes this town has gotten to me as well. Last night, I felt overcome with loss and grief. I went to see Ma' at the cemetery. Maybe it was the whiskey, maybe it was delirium, I can't say but, uh... I, uh... dug her up. And, uh, took her into town. I took her to my shop, where I kept the machine. I, uh, I- I don't know what came over me, like something took control of my body, like a puppet on strings. I put her in the machine. I don't know why, may- maybe... Maybe it would bring her back to me. But she vanished. Nothing came back out. I stumbled home in a daze, but as I arrive, I see before my eyes... I see an apparition, a spirit. It looks just like her. Only when she was younger. She floats around the house now. I catch her playing the piano. The angels, the angels, they came back to me again. I've built the metal carriage just as they asked. Only one thing left to do now, upgrade it with my machine.

Jebediah Brown: The day’s the 22nd of July, the year of our Lord, 1885. We are truly lost. This town, these people. We are being punished by Heaven for our transgressions and now must suffer the righteous hand of retribution. I did as they asked: I put the metal vessel in the Pack-a-Punch machine, just as instructed. Next thing I know, all the energy, all the power of the world gets sucked out of the air as if pulled inside the machine! Next thing, the world went white. I came to, and I see that I, my shop, all the people, the whole damn town has been transported, as if willed by the Lord, into this cavern, buried below the surface of the Earth! I fear we are at the threshold of Hell, the world just waitin' to open below our feet! We've been overrun by the Devil's army! The dead have risen and now do us in battle! My name is Jebediah Brown and I bow humbly before the two angels and ask for forgiveness! Show us the path to salvation! We are listening!

(Wood being broken)

Jebediah Brown: Hello?

(Zombies screaming)